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Summer of Weddings

I love weddings. It is the one event that I feel people can do so much with in terms of creativity, location, theme, colors, etc. Of course, many people don’t always take that route, which is okay. Weddings are meant to be classic and classy though. They are beautiful and romantic, and everyone is celebrating.

I have a bit of time before I start trekking down the wedding route, but I cannot wait until my friends start getting married. I intend on making all the flights and purchasing the dresses. However, instead of my friends planning their weddings now, many people from my high school are just having babies. I told my best friend a couple of months ago that we needed to reconnect with our friends from high school so that we could be invited to their weddings. SO MUCH FUN for summer! It would be like wedding crashers, but invited…crashers?

There aren’t any summer weddings that made it to my calendar this season, but I thought I would share with you a few statistics that I found from TheKnot.com. 21,000 couples were surveyed for these stats so you know it’s legit.

By the way the above photo is something I found while Googling, but that’s the chapel on my school’s campus!

The average budget for just the wedding ceremony and reception is $28,385. And that’s down five percent from 2008! Still New York City and Long Island throw the most money away lavish weddings, with their budgets at nearly $57,000.

Only 20 percent of weddings were formal or black tie and most of those took place in Long Island and New Jersey. Although, there is no official stat on how many hot tubs, spray tans, and six-pack abs were in attendance.

Fifty percent of wedding colors are jewel tones, which is good news if you’re a Summer.

The average engagement ring costs $5,847. Bling-bling, cha-ching.

Fifteen percent of receptions feature a signature drink offering that says let’s get drunk, in a unique way.

Most brides have at least one DIY element, usually ceremony programs, favors, or escort cards.

Weddings in Iowa and Nebraska are the biggest, averaging 200 guests eating food and drinking booze.

The average number of friends the bride will force to buy a dress that they hate is five. The average number of groomsmen squeezed into monkey suits also numbers five. Even steven.

The number of wedding after-parties has shot up by 11.5 percent in a single year. As of 2009, 30 percent of couples don’t just go home and do it; they stay out all night partying with their guests.

Only 19 percent of brides hire a wedding planner. Eighty-one percent have clearly not seen Martin Short’s compelling performance in “Father Of The Bride.”

On average, the parents of the bride usually pay 46 percent of the cost, the bride and groom absorb 40 percent, and the groom’s folks get away with a mere 12 percent contribution.

“Lady In Red”—Huh?! 87 percent of brides wear white!—and “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” (the theme song from “The Lion King”) are two of the most popular first dance songs. The most common music genre wedding bands are asked to play is oldies/pop at 26 percent. But no matter what, I guarantee you’ll hear Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “September” at a reception.